From clay to LED, Benny adapts while preserving Divali tradition

Senior Reporter

For about two decades, Donny Benny has been keeping a centuries-old tradition alive, using clay, firewood and techniques inherited from his parents to produce the deya, one of Divali’s most recognisable symbols.

As Trinidad and Tobago prepares to celebrate the Festival of Lights on Sunday, Benny is adapting to a changing market. He has introduced a deya house featuring LED lighting while continuing to make the handmade clay lamps that have illuminated homes for generations.

Although electric deyas, battery-operated lights and contemporary decorations have become increasingly popular, Benny believes traditional clay lamps retain a significance modern alternatives cannot replace.

For him, pottery is more than a seasonal business. It is a family inheritance and a connection to customs brought to Trinidad by East Indian indentured labourers more than 180 years ago.

“I’ve been doing this for about 20 years now. I learned it from my parents. Now the tradition is handed down,” Benny said.

“We always keep it traditional.”

A traditional wood-fired clay oven remains central to his work.

“We have a clay oven. It’s traditional baking. We just bake with the firewood type. We just do the traditional wood firing,” he explained.

Traditional deyas are shaped, dried and fired before they are ready for use. The process requires patience, experience and an understanding of how clay responds to heat.

Unlike electric decorations, a conventional deya requires oil or ghee and a cotton wick, producing the small, flickering flame associated with Divali. For Benny, that difference is central to the meaning of the celebration.

A tradition rooted in history

The history of the deya stretches back thousands of years to the Indian subcontinent, where earthen lamps became part of Hindu religious practices.

Divali is derived from the Sanskrit Deepavali, meaning a row of lights. One tradition associated with the festival commemorates the return of Lord Rama, his wife Sita and his brother Lakshman to Ayodhya after 14 years of exile and Rama’s victory over Ravana. According to the Ramayana, the people welcomed them by illuminating the city with rows of lamps.

In Trinidad and Tobago, the tradition took root following the arrival of East Indian indentured labourers in 1845. They brought cultural practices and skills, including pottery-making, which became established in communities across Central Trinidad.

Chase Village and Edinburgh Village in Chaguanas developed strong associations with traditional clay pottery. Families passed their knowledge from one generation to another.

These artisans, historically known as Kohars, produced deyas as well as clay vessels, cooking utensils, water containers and other household items.

Today, the clay lamp remains a familiar feature of Trinidad and Tobago’s cultural landscape, with rows of deyas illuminating homes, temples, streets and communities during Divali.

Tradition meets technology

The craft faces increasing competition from modern alternatives, and Benny is not ignoring the changes.

Among his newer offerings is a deya house incorporating LED lighting. LED decorations provide reusable illumination without the need to replenish oil or replace cotton wicks. Wax-filled deyas have also become popular, offering another alternative to the traditional arrangement.

“Despite the fact that over the years we have all the modern deyas, the LED deyas, the water deyas, but this is the original thing,” he said.

Months of preparation

Preparing for Divali begins well before the weeks leading up to the celebration.

Benny said preparations for this year’s festival began in January. Production initially proceeded at a modest pace before increasing as demand grew.

He described an extended preparation period of approximately eight months, followed by a push to increase production as Divali approached.

“Coming down to the more crunch time, the volume of the deyas, it will increase,” he explained.

With just days remaining before the festival, Benny said demand had been encouraging and supplies were beginning to run low.

“Sales are going good so far. The deyas are kind of running out, so we’re trying to make a larger amount,” he said.

“We’re trying our best to see what we can make from now until Divali.”

Keeping the craft alive

Beyond sales, Benny is concerned with the survival of the tradition.

For him, every handmade deya represents more than a small clay vessel. It carries the knowledge of those who brought the craft to Trinidad, the skills developed by generations of local artisans and the religious and cultural practices that have shaped the country’s identity.

Benny hopes younger people will appreciate the craftsmanship behind these objects and understand why preserving the tradition matters.

“We just try to keep the traditional lifestyle. Try to let all the generations know that this is the original handmade deya, and this is where it comes from,” he said.

As families prepare to illuminate their homes and communities, Benny wants the handmade deya to remain part of a practice that has endured through generations of cultural and technological change.

Whether the light comes from an LED bulb or a cotton wick burning in oil, the festival’s central message remains one of hope, goodness and enlightenment. But for Benny, the handmade clay deya represents something technology cannot manufacture: a connection to the generations who came before.

“So let’s try everybody to learn about the tradition and keep it alive,” he said.